OJK and Ministry of MSMEs Form Task Force to Expand MSME Financing

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have agreed to form a task force or working group to expand access to funding and financing for SMEs through the financial services sector.

At the UMKM Finance Summit 2026 in Jakarta on Tuesday, OJK Board of Commissioners Chairperson Friderica Widyasari Dewi said the working group would follow up on cooperation between the OJK and the Ministry of SMEs to integrate various SME development programmes with the financial services sector.

“We are creating a task force, teamwork, or working group that will jointly work on how these SMEs can advance. One way is through funding and financing from the financial services sector, as well as how SMEs can move up a class and increasingly become the main engine driving the Indonesian economy,” Friderica said, as quoted from an official statement from the Ministry of SMEs.

The formation of the working group is part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of SMEs and the OJK signed to accelerate access to financing for SMEs across Indonesia.

Minister of SMEs Maman Abdurrahman said the expansion of financing access must be accompanied by strengthening market access so that the additional capital received by SMEs can drive business growth.

According to Maman, financing provided without market support risks failing to produce optimal business growth because the products produced by SMEs may not necessarily be absorbed.

“When we want to encourage growth in financing access to the SME sector, this must also be balanced with securing the market. We must not provide financing, enable SMEs to produce goods well, but then when the goods are to be sold, there is no market to absorb them,” Maman said.

He said the Ministry of SMEs would prepare policies to strengthen market access while coordinating with stakeholders so that financing received by SMEs can be used productively and support business sustainability.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Hanif Dhakiri, who oversees finance, national development planning, monetary affairs, and the financial services sector, said expanding SME financing also requires a paradigm shift in the national financial system.

According to Hanif, the financing problem does not lie solely in the ability of SMEs to meet the requirements of financial institutions or become bankable. The financial system also needs to adapt to the characteristics, transaction patterns, and economic activities of SMEs.

“The problem is not merely that SMEs are not yet bankable, but that the financial system is also not yet SME-able,” Hanif said.

He said this approach could open up opportunities for developing more adaptive financing schemes, among others by utilising transaction records, business activities, and SME economic data as part of financing eligibility assessments.

The collaboration between the OJK and the Ministry of SMEs is expected to expand access to financing for productive SMEs that have so far faced limitations in meeting conventional financing requirements.